Charles I

Charles I, 1288–1342, king of Hungary (1308–42), founder of the Angevin dynasty in Hungary; grandson of Charles II of Naples, who had married a daughter of Stephen V of Hungary. On the death (1301) of Andrew III, last of the Arpad dynasty, Charles was the candidate of Pope Boniface VIII for the crown of St. Stephen, but the Hungarians elected Wenceslaus III of Bohemia; in 1308 the Hungarian diet at last chose Charles, who was crowned in 1310. He reorganized the army on a feudal basis, using the nobility for its personnel, and taxed the bourgeoisie. Silver and gold mines became state monopolies, and in 1338 gold became the accepted currency. He encouraged trade and increased the privileges of the cities. He married his second son to Joanna I of Naples and took as his second wife Elizabeth, daughter of King Ladislaus I of Poland. In 1339 he secured the succession to Casimir III of Poland for his eldest son, later Louis I of Hungary.